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In Person Observations from Preseason Week 1

I had the opportunity to attend the preseason game last night. A good time, despite the final outcome. It was great to see football back. Here are a few observations:

The Offense Generally:

Initially, I liked the new look offense. Short passes, play action, a moving pocket. Terrible break for David Johnson. I though he played quite well. He was effective as a blocker, and his receptions were an added bonus. Very unfortuante that his season ended.

As much as I liked the new look offense, the Steelers are going to have to throw some more intermediate passes. The Eagles, very reminiscent of 2008, played press man on the WRs and kept their safeties close to the line. They didn't fear Sanders or Brown at all. If only there was a deep threat, somebody who would force their safeties to respect the deep pass and back off the line. Where could the Steelers find somebody like that?

I really liked Rainny in the return game and on offense. I think he'll be a nice weapon.

Offensive Line:

Despite trying to watch DeCastro, he didn't really stand out to me. For an offensive lineman, that's fine -- I'll take that over Adams, who did stand out for all the wrong reasons. John Malecki showed pretty decent athleticism and mobility. The few times that I saw him, he seemed to be doing good things. Beachum - ugh. Maybe there is something with the number 68 that attracts penalties. It's only one game, but it was an awful start.

Defense:

Liked what I saw from McClendon. Powerful and active. I really like Cortez Allen. Not too much to say about the D. They pulled everybody quickly.

Sean Spence is really good in coverage. He had a nice coverage against a WR, and later, again covering a believe a WR, he forced the QB to look elsewhere. I'd like to see Spence improve against the run. He seemed to be easily blocked and taken out of plays. Curtis Brown failed to get his head around on the TD and then again later on a misfire where the WR was open. Ugly. Will Allen has a lot more chippiness than he does coverage ability. Couldn't tell from replay who was responsible for the blown coverage on the long TD. One of the late game LBers, I think Adrian Robinson, flashed some pass rush ability.

Random Musings:

Jerrod Johnson looked awful. He is athletic, but that's about it.

I was hoping to see more from Barron Batch. I heard from people on TV that he looked to be tough, but I was hoping to see more. The line did him no favors either. I'm still not the least bit impressed with Clay.

Saw Shawn Suisham strutting around with his hat on backwards in the second half. He's a kicker. And not a particularly good one. SMH.

If there is ever a game where I can not be upset with the Steelers losing, this was it. The Eagles really wanted to win this for Andy Reid, and the timeouts and use of their real kicker at the end showed that. If this gave him any comfort in a terrible time, I'm fine with a meaningless preseason loss.

Haha, thanks. The crowd wasn't bad at all, but I think that is mostly because it was pre-season. Also, with a mid-week game, the crowd was more sober.

There were tons of Steelers fans there, especially at the end. Not sure if this came across on TV, but near the end of the game, a chant of "Here we go Steelers, here we go" broke out. The remaining Eagles fans, as expected, booed.

Haha, thanks. The crowd wasn't bad at all, but I think that is mostly because it was pre-season. Also, with a mid-week game, the crowd was more sober.

There were tons of Steelers fans there, especially at the end. Not sure if this came across on TV, but near the end of the game, a chant of "Here we go Steelers, here we go" broke out. The remaining Eagles fans, as expected, booed.

I didn't notice the Steelers fans on tv. Mostly empty green seats stood out when the showed the stadium. It really looked like the place was empty at the end of the game. Did many people see the end of the game?

The one thing I did get a sense for on tv was there was a lot of rotation of the linemen by Philly. I wasn't sure if that was helping their pass rush, or the linemen were out of shape. Then I started wondering if the Pittsburgh linemen weren't in game shape. Was it particularly hot in Philly? I didn't have the sound on, so I wasn't sure what the temp was and if that was impacting the big guys.

I didn't notice the Steelers fans on tv. Mostly empty green seats stood out when the showed the stadium. It really looked like the place was empty at the end of the game. Did many people see the end of the game?

The one thing I did get a sense for on tv was there was a lot of rotation of the linemen by Philly. I wasn't sure if that was helping their pass rush, or the linemen were out of shape. Then I started wondering if the Pittsburgh linemen weren't in game shape. Was it particularly hot in Philly? I didn't have the sound on, so I wasn't sure what the temp was and if that was impacting the big guys.

It was hot, but the humidity was a real killer. I'd have to imagine it had some sort of impact on the big guys -- it hit me pretty hard leaving the stadium just walking at a normal pace.

At the end of the game, as you would expect in the preseason, the crowd really thinned out. Usually, the subways are packed after the game. Yesterday, not much of a crowd at all. At the end of the game, many of those who remained were Steelers fans. For me, it was an easy chance to see the Steelers live, even if most of those guys aren't even going to be on the practice squad. I think for most of the Steelers fans there, it was the same thing.

When Hrappman kicked his FG near the 2 minute mark, at first I thought he missed because the crowd in that end zone cheered. Then I realized it was mostly Steelers fans that remained.

I'm like how we pulled Redman early in the game... shows that we have plans for him for the regular season.

The rest of the RBs did well. I do want to make one point that I don't like, that I saw with Dwyer. He had that big run, and he immediately waves to get off the field. I don't like that. He doesn't treasure time on the field. No urgency. They should have to call him off the field.

I'm like how we pulled Redman early in the game... shows that we have plans for him for the regular season.

The rest of the RBs did well. I do want to make one point that I don't like, that I saw with Dwyer. He had that big run, and he immediately waves to get off the field. I don't like that. He doesn't treasure time on the field. No urgency. They should have to call him off the field.

I recently heard someone (think it was Curtis Martin) say that Bill Parcells said you should never want to come off the field cause you never know what the next guy is gonna do. ie. he might be so good they won't need you any more.

I do want to make one point that I don't like, that I saw with Dwyer. He had that big run, and he immediately waves to get off the field. I don't like that. He doesn't treasure time on the field. No urgency. They should have to call him off the field.

Dwyer sprained his shoulder on that play, that's why he came off the field.

I'm like how we pulled Redman early in the game... shows that we have plans for him for the regular season.

The rest of the RBs did well. I do want to make one point that I don't like, that I saw with Dwyer. He had that big run, and he immediately waves to get off the field. I don't like that. He doesn't treasure time on the field. No urgency. They should have to call him off the field.

Sorry to hear that. I have been a big Dwyer proponent since we drafted him. I still think he will have a break out year this season. He has the talent, if he could just shake off his laziness. At least he came into camp much less fat than the last two years.